Pilot Safe After Plane Crash Lands

A Fort Lauderdale pilot escaped injury Friday when the front landing gear of his twin-engine plane collapsed during an emergency landing at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.

``He did a good job,`` said Lt. George Amberge of the Fort Lauderdale Fire Department. ``He made a crash landing, but he managed to stay on the runway.``

The pilot, Thomas Breza, steered his six-passenger aircraft to a skidding stop on runway 13 about 11:50 a.m. after discovering that the landing gear had malfunctioned shortly after takeoff from the airport.

``I could see it hanging down,`` Breza said. ``I notified the tower and then tried to manually crank the gear up, but it didn`t move.``

The tower controllers watched as the Cessna 310 flew past with its landing gear down, then gave permission for Breza to land. But the aircraft`s controls indicated the front gear was not locked, Breza said.

``I was trying to burn off fuel,`` he said. ``I knew the aircraft was not going to land on its wheels, and I wanted to avoid as much fire as possible.``

Breza said he tightened his seat belt and unlatched his door as he made his final approach at 80 mph, but the landing seemed no different than any other.

A firefighter who witnessed the landing said the plane skidded for about 800 feet on its nose after the front wheel collapsed.

Breza, who had taken the plane up to test some new equipment, took the landing calmly.